Water-closet seat



Patented J an. 6, 1920.

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MARIE A, FERGUSON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

WATER-CLOSET SEAT.

Application filed July 21,

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, MARIE A. FERGUSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Closet Seats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to a water closet bowl or hopper and particularly relates to the seat portion and flush water supply system of such bowls. W'ater closet seats, especially in public toilets, frequently become fouled and naturally give rise to unsanitary conditions. Aside from this a user objects to sitting on a seat which may have been occupied previously by a diseased person. Numerous methods have been suggested to remedy this condition such as positioning a fresh paper cover on the seat for each user but this practice is unsatisfactory and expensive.

The primary objectof my invention is to provide a form of seat which may be main tained in a sanitary condition without material expense.

I attain this object broadly by providing a toilet bowl seat arranged to be flushed as desired and constructed to direct the flushing water from the seat into the bowl.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple form of construction of the class described which will shut ofl the water supply automatically in case the seat should be raised into an inoperative position.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention with parts broken away to show internal construction;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1 with parts shown in section on the broken line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of one side of the seat and taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In the following description and in the claims, parts will be identified by specific Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

1916. Serial N0. 110,457.

names for convenience of expression but they are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown a conventional form of water closet bowl 4, provided with its usual flush system, indicated diagrammatically by the main water supply pipe 5 the flow through which is controlled by the usual manually actuated valve 6. The bowl is provided with a seat 7 formed of two curved side pieces with front and back portions broken away and is also provided with a closing cover 8. The inner periphery or edge of each side forming the seat and Outlining the central opening 9, is curved inwardly and downwardly as shown at 10 (Fig. 3) to constitute a drain surface for the seat and to present a smooth supporting surfaCe for the body of'the user. A flushing head 11 for the seat, in the form of a horse-shoe shaped spray pipe, is positioned about the sides forming the seat and in general conforms in configuration thereto. The spray pipe is provided witha plurality of inwardly directing outlets 12, designed to direct the flushing water along and across the body, engaging portion of the seat sides and particularly across any portion thereof which is apt to become fouled. The side extensions of the pipe are contained within recesses 13 formed above and to the outside of the body engaging portion of the seat. This portion of the seat is preferably arranged with smooth, curved surfaces designed so that the introduction of the pipe will cause the least possible break in the normal configuration usual in devices of this character. The pipe 11 is supplied at its rear free por tion from a conduit 14 which in addition to its function of transmitting the water supply to the flushing device is designed in cylindrical form so as to constitute a-pivotal bearing for the'hinge members 15 and 16, respectively carrying the seat and cover.

The conduit is rotatably mounted upon supporting bracket 17 as is usual with devices of this character. Water is supplied to the conduit from the main water supply pipe 5, through a branch connection 18 in fluid communication with the rotatably mounted conduit through a coupling 19 arranged to permit rotary movement of the conduit. The conduit may also include a rotary valve 20 of a conventional form designed automatically to shut off the water flow from the connection 18 when the seat is raised into an inoperative position off the bowl rim. By this means it is possible to actuate the valve 6 in order to flush the bowl when the seat or the water pipe carrying member is in raised position without causing the water to pass through the seat flushing device.

By means of a device of this character it is possible for the user to lower the seat if raised, thus automatically opening the seat flushing device to the main supply pipe and to actuate the valve 6 before sitting on the seat. This will flush the bowl as usual but in addition will also effectively flush the seat from any matter thereon. The body supporting portion of the seat may be constructed with a quick draining surface and be finished with a water discharging coating so that little, if any, water remains on the seat after it has been flushed. Each user is thus assured that the seat is clean and danger of contamination from this source is materially reduced if not eliminated.

While I have shown and described, and have pointed out in the annexed claims, certain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substi tutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support, and a relatively fixed water supply pipe, a conduit rotatably mounted in said support, a seat pivotally mounted on said conduit for swinging movement to and from its operative position, a flush pipe carried by the seat and in fluid communication with said conduit and a swivel connection between said fixed water pipe and said conduit designed to permit relative movement between the pipe and conduit.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support, and a relatively fixed water supply pipe, a conduit rotatably mounted in said support, a seat pivotally mounted on said conduit for swinging movement to and from its operative position, a flush pipe carried by the seat and in fluid communication with said conduit, a swivel connection between said fixed water pipe and said conduit designed to permit relative movement between the pipe and conduit and a valve controlled by the movement of the seat for regulating'the flow through said conduit. 7

3. In a device of the class described, a seat formed of two curved sides, adapted to be supported by the closet bowl, said sides spaced apart to form a central opening and with the contiguous ends thereof spaced apart to form openings at front and back of the seat and means for fastening the sides together, said means constituting a flush water conduit for leading flushing water to the sides of the seat. V Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 28th day of June, A. D. 1916.

MARIE A FERGUSON. 

